"Oh well!" said Jack. He always said "Oh well!" when he didn't know what to say. "You mean at the Agricultural College? Oh well!—Well, I was the youngest there, stableboy and harness-cleaner and all that. Oh well! You see there'd been a chivoo the night before. The lads had a grudge against the council, because they gave us bread and cheese, and no butter, for supper, and cocoa with no milk. And we weren't just little nippers. We were—Oh well! Most of the chaps were men, really—eighteen—nineteen—twenty. As much as twenty-three. I was the youngest. I didn't care. But the chaps were different. There were many who had failed at the big entrance exams for the Indian Civil, or the Naval or Military, and they were big, hungry chaps, you can bet—"
"I should say so," nodded Mr. George approvingly.
"Well, there was a chivoo. They held me on their shoulders and I smashed the Principal's windows."
You could see by Jack's face how he had enjoyed breaking those windows.
"What with?" asked Mr. George.
"With a wooden gym club."
"Wanton destruction of property. Prrrh!"
"The boss was frightened. But he raised Old Harry and said he'd go up to town and report us to the council. So he ordered the trap right away, to catch the nine o'clock train. And I had to take the trap round to the front door—"
Here Jack paused. He didn't want to go further.
"And so—" said Mr. George.